Lawmakers were given a chance this year to help Florida’s renters. Their reply: Nah | Editorial

Florida law says renters like Marie Wissler can’t be evicted from their homes for complaining about a landlord’s negligence.

Florida law also says that if a landlord does retaliate, the tenant can take them to court.

That’s terrific, if you can afford a lawyer. If a renter doesn’t have that kind of money — and how many really do? — they’re out of luck.

Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley filed a bill in the Florida Legislature that would have allowed local governments to set up boards to investigate the kind of retaliation that Wissler said she was subjected to by her landlord after she complained about conditions at the rental community where she lives.

Baxley wouldn’t be our first guess to come to the aid of regular Floridians. But even the author of some of Florida’s worst bills in recent years could muster some empathy in this instance.

But, come on, you already know how this ends.

Baxley’s bill went nowhere, a completely predictable outcome in a state where the economy and the legal system are rigged against people like Wissler, an elderly woman who lives in a seniors-only community in Leesburg.

Wissler’s circumstances were highlighted in the final installment of a Sentinel series that outlined the extent of Florida’s hostility toward renters, and how the legal system for evictions is designed to protect landlords.

The state’s law against “retaliatory conduct” by landlords is an excellent example.

Surely we can all agree that nobody, whether it’s a single mother or an old person, should get kicked out if they complain about roaches or mold or other dangerous conditions.

That’s what Florida’s law is supposed to stop: Landlords addressing complaints by just kicking someone out of their home.

The legal remedy, however, is going to court. That’s a financial fantasy for many renters in Florida, something Baxley recognized in filing a bill that would have allowed cities and counties to set up their own boards to investigate claims of retaliation.

Siding with the little guy is not at the top of Florida lawmakers’ list of priorities. It’s not at the bottom, either. It’s not anywhere on their list.

This is a state where, if a renter falls behind, they have five days after getting an eviction summons to pay up or else go into default and face life on the streets. A state where anti-renter laws are far more likely to punish Black Floridians, who are far more likely to be renters than homeowners.

Like others, we had hoped the pandemic would lead to a variety of reforms designed to help working-class families in Florida.

Everyone seemed so grateful toward workers we had taken for granted, people who stayed in their low-wage jobs during a terrifying time, risking their personal health to keep grocery store shelves stocked, garbage collected and gas stations operating.

The opportunity to help them seemed so ripe, so within reach. It was a chance to reform the state’s merciless unemployment system, expand the Medicaid system so more families could have affordable access to health care insurance, require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who fall ill.

Or change the laws that are so cruelly rigged to favor landlords, whether it’s giving renters more time to pay off what they owe or allowing local governments to give renters a way to voice their complaints about landlord retaliation without hiring expensive attorneys.

It appears the memories of our lawmakers are short.

None of those things occurred. Instead of new laws to address the real problems of Floridians, we got new laws to address imaginary problems with elections, transgender athletes and political protests.

The question now is whether the memories of Florida’s voters will be as short when it’s time once again next year to choose who should lead this state.

Editorials are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board and are written by one of its members or a designee. The editorial board consists of Opinion Editor Mike Lafferty, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com.